After reading my last blog post about the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, a good friend of mine who is an avid recreational diver emailed me and asked if I knew about the Giant Octopuses that live under the Narrows Bridge. I said, “yeah, right, and boy do I have a bridge to sell you.” And I asked if he checked under his bed at night for monsters. 🙂
Well, he said that he DID check under his bed for monsters, every night, and he suspected every right-thinking adult does that … and he said that there are indeed, truthfully, Giant Octopuses that live under that bridge in the waters of “the Narrows.” So I did some research (good thing I like research) and golly gosh, he’s right! There ARE giant octopuses that live under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. In fact, they are known to be the largest octopuses in the world, and no I’m not pulling your legs, nor your octopus’s arms. (Octopuses do not have tentacles, by the way.)
From the Encyclopedia of Puget Sound: “GIANT PACIFIC OCTOPUS (Enteroctopus dofleini) is the largest species of octopus in the world. It is found in the northern Pacific Ocean from the northwest coast of the continental United States to Japan, including Puget Sound.”
There are reports of one giant octopus weighing 157 pounds and measuring 11 feet long from the top of the mantel to the end of its arms (octopuses don’t have tentacles, they have arms). That octopus was weighed while it was alive, out of the water of course, and then immediately returned to the water.
Take a look at this website that includes a couple of brief videos.
And there’s a ton of information HERE about the Puget Sound and Tacoma giant octopuses (most of it factual, although there is a bit of silly talk about a 600-pound octopus that lives under the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and that comes up to the surface and grabs entire huge ferry boats and eats all of the passengers … yikes).
There are so many fascinating things I never knew about in this place I call home.